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If a Body Meets a Body
If a Body Meets a Body is the 86th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959. Its title is a pun on the comically macabre theme of the film, and taken from a line from the old Scottish song by Robert Burns, "Coming Through the Rye" (as in "Should a body meet a body/Coming through the rye/Should a body kiss a body/Need a body cry?"). The short has a very similar plot to The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case, which also features actor Fred Kelsey. This short was part of the TBS Halloween special, Three Stooges Fright Night, during the 1990s. Plot The Stooges are unemployed again, and looking through the want-ads for work. when the trios sets the table Curly brings a pail of soup from a meat bone, Larry notices something wrong with Curly's soup and Moe finds a large horseshoe on his soup, and duos are angry with Curly that he didn't go to the butcher shop for meat and went to glue factory so they kick him out. as Curly is about to leave Moe stumbles on an article stating that Curly's uncle Bob O. Link had died and left his nephew Curly Q. Link a nice inheritance. Upon arriving at the uncle's mansion for the reading of the will, the lawyer disappears along with the will, and is then found murdered. All potential heirs, including the Stooges, are held as suspects and forced to spend the night. While getting a tour of their sleeping quarters, Curly gets spooked when it is revealed his is standing on the exact spot his uncle was murdered. The rest of the night consists of a parrot walking around inside a human skull, howling wind, and uncle Bob O. Link's corpse leaning on Moe. The Stooges flee down the stairwell and knock over the maid (Joe Palma), who is the killer in disguise, with the stolen will falling out of the killer's wig. . After excitedly reading the will, Curly learns that he has been bequeathed a grand total of $0.67 net. Quotes **'Moe': Didn't you once tell me you were born in Oxford? **'Curly': I don't remember, I was born awful young **'Moe': By the way, didn't you say your last name was "Link?" **'Curly': You know my name is Curly Q. Link. **'Larry': What's the "Q" stand for? Quincy? **'Curly': No. **'Moe': Quillip? **'Curly': No. **'Moe': What does the "Q" stand for? **'Curly': Cuff. **'Butler': Good night, gentlemen. I hope you have a nice lo...ong sleep **'Moe': Thanks, Dracula. **'Moe, Larry & Curly': Sixty seven cents?!! Curly's illness If a Body Meets a Body was the first film made after Curly Howard suffered a mild stroke. As a result, his performance was marred by slurred speech, and slower timing. Though the trio did not know it at the time, Curly's health would gradually deteriorate, resulting in languid, almost sickly performances right up to his last film with the team, Half-Wits Holiday. Theme change If a Body Meets a Body is the first Stooge film to employ a revamped performance of the 'sliding strings' version of "Three Blind Mice" as the Stooges' official theme song. The original 'sliding strings' version was regularly used from 1939's We Want Our Mummy until 1942's What's the Matador?. Due to the timing of this theme's usage, it is often associated with the post-stroke Curly Howard era, as the new theme coincidentally made its debut in the same film that Curly's illness became apparent. This version of "Three Blind Mice" would only be utilized in four films during the Shemp Howard era: Fright Night, Out West, Squareheads of the Round Table and The Hot Scots. References *Solomon, Jon (2002). The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion. Comedy III Productions, Inc. pp. 262. ISBN 0-9711868-0-4. *Fleming, Michael (2002) 1999. The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons. New York: Broadway Publishing. p. 211. ISBN 0-7679-0556-3 Category:Three Stooges films